One of the most common questions people ask me as an acupuncturist in Bremerton is, “can acupuncture help me to lose weight?” This is a loaded question! The answer is yes, but the success they have may depend on a variety of factors, including each person’s unique constitution and what their commitment is to their own health. In this blog, we’ll go over the different types of excessive body weight and what can be done to help each of these people lose weight with acupuncture, herbal medicine and other forms of holistic care.

People who have excessive weight will often fall into two categories, those who feel great and those who feel more tired after they exercise. This goes for normal exertion, not running a marathon, which would exhaust almost everyone. For the first group of people, their body is accumulating too much excessive waste and fluids, which the body has difficulty metabolizing.  When they exercise and sweat, they feel great because they are releasing it and are circulating the blood.  A lot of people who eat too many greasy, fried, or sugary foods fall into this category. You can tell if this is you if your tongue is fairly large and has a thick or greasy white or yellow coating on top of it. Even if you brush your tongue, that thick coating will return. A healthy tongue coating will be thin and white. The color of the tongue itself is for another discussion.

The second group of people in Bremerton feel worse after they exercise because their body is too weak to properly regulate the fluids.  They will often be very cold all the time and always tired. Their body’s internal warming mechanism, which regulates fluids, isn’t able function properly and the result is that they retain water. When they work out, their body gets further depleted and they just feel more tired. They retain more water and just want to sleep. A lot of cases of hypothyroidism fall into this category. This might be you if your tongue is fairly large, looks wet, has no coating and will often be very pale or almost white.

The treatment for these types of people is very different.  In fact, it’s opposite. As one has too much fluid retention and the other has not enough warmth and heat in the body to properly move the fluids. The first one does well with acupuncture and herbal techniques designed to remove the extra waste and water. This is called a draining technique. The second group of people will do better with acupuncture and herbal techniques designed to warm and support the function of the organs,  which naturally move fluids by themselves. These people will also really benefit from moxibustion. Mugwort, is an herb, called moxa, that is burned near the body, and helps to add bodily warmth, and remove excess water. Commonly, people present as a combination of the two different types, so the strategy to help them must include both draining and supporting the body with acupuncture and herbs.

Surprisingly, neither group will commonly lose weight eating salads and a lot of raw foods. Since raw foods are high in water, it will be easy to absorb and retain it. Both groups will benefit from primarily from warm and cooked foods. The digestion is like a furnace and works better when the fuel is warm and dry, rather than cool and wet. Soups, cooked vegetables and brown rice are always good.  Also eating high quality proteins and avoiding sugar, is especially important in the morning. That’s not to discount all raw foods, but often people will often try to lose weight eating a lot of salad and end up gaining weight, because it’s cool, damp, and full of water.  I hope you have learned something from this blog and we welcome you to come in for a free consultation to discuss your specific needs and how we can be of service.

In health,

Michael Maniloff
Acupuncturist, Bremerton Wellness
Bremertonwellness.com
(360) 627-7408